A rebel fighter carries his weapon as he walks in front of a rainbow in Ratian village, north of Aleppo, after what the rebels said was an offensive against them by forces loyal to Syria‘s President Bashar al-Assad that attempted to advance in the village but failed.

Syrian children react as they wait for treatment at a makeshift hospital in the rebel held area of Douma, north east of the capital Damascus, following reported air strikes by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

A fighter of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) stands next to damaged buildings in the northern Syrian town of Kobani on Friday. Sheets meant to hide residents from snipers’ sights still hang over streets in the Syrian border town of Kobani, and its shattered buildings and cratered roads suggest those who fled are unlikely to return anytime soon

A mannequin is pictured at a damaged building in the northern Syrian town of Kobani. Sheets meant to shield residents from the snipers’ sights still hang over the streets of this Syrian border town, and its shattered buildings and cratered roads suggest those who fled are unlikely to return any time soon. Kurdish forces said this week they had taken full control of Kobani, a mainly Kurdish town near the Turkish border, after months of bombardment by Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has spread across Syria and Iraq.

A Kurdish fighter smiles as he drives a car in the centre of the Syrian border town of Kobani, known as Ain al-Arab, on Wednesday. Kurdish forces recaptured the strategic town on the Turkish frontier on Tuesday in a symbolic blow for the jihadists who have seized swathes of territory in a brutal onslaught across Syria and Iraq

A wounded Syrian child receives treatment at a makeshift hospital in the rebel held area of Douma, northeast of the capital Damascus, after he was injured by a reported air strike fired by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad

Syrians carry water as they walk on a road near their refugee camp, at Ber-Elias village, in Bekaa valley, east Lebanon. Snow fell in the Middle East as a powerful winter storm swept through the region, killing several Syrian refugees in Lebanon and forcing thousands of others who have fled their country civil war to huddle for warmth in refugee camps

A young Syrian refugee covers herself with a blanket as she stands outside tents at a makeshift settlement in Bar Elias in the Bekaa valley. Lebanon enforced new immigration controls at the Syrian border on Monday in a move to gain control of the steady stream of refugees from its much larger neighbour.